Does anyone know if the komagong / ironwood escrima for sale on ebay (and elsewhere) are generally legitimate? I've read that there is a ban on exporting komagong from the Philippines, and I find it strange that companies like Century don't offer them.

i was looking into kamagong sticks a while ago, and contacted these guys who were pleasant to deal with. I asked if their ironwood came from a sustainable source, ie. if the suppliers were commited to replanting, not just de-forrestation. they said that they were not sure, and that, tbh, it had never occurred to them. They said they would find out for me, but in the end could not find out themselves. This was 2 years ago, so they may have that info now.

i decided against purchase as the tree is very rare and being over harvested as it is. To be part of the solution, one has to choose not to be part of the problem.

Kamagong is heavy and not a good choice for training. Many schools wont let you use them anyway as they destroy other classmates rattan sticks. I would stick with rattan, but its your choice.

You could try bahi sticks. It's from the heart of a coconut tree. Not as heavy as kamagong, but also not as brittle (kamagong can shatter if you drop it on concrete...). And it's not on the endangered list.

I don't know if the more generic MA suppliers in the states would have it, but you could try some of the larger schools, for example the Doce Pares ones, or the Texas Kali folks (kaligear.com). Another option would be Eskrimador Supplies in the UK. (eskrimador-supplies.com

Quote:Does anyone know if the komagong / ironwood escrima for sale on ebay (and elsewhere) are generally legitimate? I've read that there is a ban on exporting komagong from the Philippines, and I find it strange that companies like Century don't offer them.

thanks!

I took the advice of my Dogbrothers Stickfighting tapes and I bought 2 splitting maul handles at the local hardware store and cut them off at 31 inches long.

One is to check the weight and feel of the sticks (impossible when buying online). Another is to chip off a piece of the stick or saw it in half (I have actually done this before to check the quality of supply) to check the grain is consistent. Usually you have to do this when the stick is varnished. The reason for this is that not all kamagong is black. It is common to find sticks that are half black / half white. I have actually seen a kamagong board that was all white. The wood classed as "Grade A" (a.k.a "Philippine Ebony") is closer to the core and therefore rarer. There is also "Grade B" which is known locally as "Tigre". This is still good wood but the "Grade A" tends to be a shade heavier.

To make the stick more appetizing for consumers some suppliers give the pigmented sticks a uniform black finish. The problem with this is that people mask other woods with paint and varnish.

I like to point out the grain at the edge of the stick. Frequently if it is painted black you can not trace it throughout the stick - as you can in this example I have provided. Usually it is too much trouble to match the end of the stick to a "painted" grain so the ends will be jet black.

Obviously it is not as good as look and feel but it's a better check than nothing.

Regarding the "Substainability" issue I get my Kamagong sticks from a very-well known carpenter in Luzon. He supplies re-sellers is The USA, Australia and Europe.

He has all the necessary government certification to work with Kamagong. However, the areas that Kamagong grows are usually the mountain provinces. These have many NPA rebels and they control the flow of the resource to Manila and it's surroundings.

As was earlier discussed, the Bahi sticks (from the Anahaw tree)tree are much more substainable and durable. I have some that are 500g - heavier than a lot of Kamagong.The problem is that harvesting the tree for sticks takes a particular skill and only some part of the tree can be used.

It is a sad fact of life in the Philippines that you will see more Kamagong for sale than Bahi.